High-speed feed for sheet metal



Dec, 24, 1929. R. w. sTRo'uT H IGH- srmm FEED Fon-SHEET ure'nu.Y

Filed ay; 19. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR By Attorneys,

amm, MM www@ Dec. 24, 1929.

R. w. sTRouT 1,740,844 HIGH SPEED FEED FOR 'SHEET METAL 4 Filed May 19.1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 By Attorneys, @W1/wn WW y INVENTOR v Bec. 24,1929.

R. w. sTRou'r 1,740,844

HIGH SPEED FEED FOR SHEET METALl Filed May 19, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 i:Fw

,5 u o i J7 ILL, yf i mi "fu w g g IUI/)ULL(IH/[Nimm 1mg nmlnmm/vx ByAttorneys,

4Q mechanism Patented Dec. 24, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROBERTW. sTRoU'r, oEBRooKLYN, NEW YORK, AssIeNoE 'ro E. W. ELIss COMPANY,

; oEBRooKLYN, NEW YORK, A coEroR'A'rroN or DELAWARE HIGH-SPEED FEED EOESHEET METAL Application led May 19,

' punching presses or other machinery acting intermittently upon the fedsheets or strips. It `relatesto` roller Vfeeds or those in rwhich thestrip is gripped between feed rollers which are rotated step by step tointermittentlyfeed the sheet in the intervals between the punching orother strokes of the press or other machinelfFor high speed intermittentfeeding it is necessary to overcome the effect of momentum whichtends tocarry the feed rolls too far; and for this purpose it is common to applysomeform of brake, usually a band or strap brake', upon a hub on one oreach of the feed roll shafts. v The .present invention yprovides -animprovedconstruction 'of diskbrake especially applicable for suchpurposes. A f v Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings shows in frontelevation a portion of a punchthe feed rolls, the parts ing'press towhich the feed mechanism of the present invention is applied.

Fig. 2is a vertical section on the line 2 -2 in Fig. 1 and on a muchlarger scale. Y

Fig. 3 is a section on the plane ofthe line 3 3 of one of the rollshafts.

Fig. 4 is aview in the same plane of one of the revolvingdisks of thedisk brake.

tionary disks thereof. l

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view, showing the means fonimpartingintermittent rotation to shown being viewed from the left in Fig. 1.

. Fig; 7 is a lplan of .the lower` part of the' I- mechanism`shownin-Fig. 6 partly in section in the plane of theline T-Tin Fig. 6.

Fig..8 is a Vsectional view of the ratchet onA a larger scale thanFigs.. 6

and7.

. l Referring-to Fig. 1, the pres is shown as having a base A and sideframes B Bcarryy 45 'ing a main shaft C which has an eccentric (orcrank) for reciprocating the punchcarrying slide D which is driven fromthe .shaft through a connectingrod E in any usual manner. .The p essshownV may be taken as typical of a punching press or other Ina-'- -bymeans of intermes tion in Fig. 2, which Fig." 5 is a similar view of oneofthe stal comprise end diSkS 7.7',

, shown in" dotted lines atthe left in Fig. 1, and A in fragmentary sideelevation in Fig. 2.y The journals g g of these roll shafts are carriedin bearings k la. conveniently constructed as bearing blocks suitablyheld in recesses 'in the'frame F in any customary manner and pressedtogether in any suitable Way'for giving the feed rollers the necessarygrip .upon the sheet or.` strip of metal being fed. The rollers aregeared to ether to turn in unison ing gears z' i', shown in dotted linesat the right in Fig. 1 and in secgears are keyed to the shafts in theusual. way. To the frame F is bolted a frame H which is hollow andserves as a housing for'the gears z' z" andalso serves as a base supportfor the friction brake which as a whole is'lettered J.

The friction brake is constructed in eneral Aafter the customaryconstruction of ictionl brakes in-that it has alternating stationary andrevolving disks. The stationary disks between which all the other disksare confined, and intervening disks j the disks j j are alike exceptthat the outer disks-are thicker; Fig. 5 shows the contour of thesedisks. The rotaryfdisks shown in Fig. 6 are lettered lo k -and arealternated betwx-'en-the stationary disks. Between' the successivestationary and rotary disks are facings Z Z of any suitable frictionalmaterial,

such as asbestos fabric commonly applied as holes m m (Fig. 5) whichhave a free or sliding iit `with pins vor bolts p p which are screwedxedly into the plate H and serve for holding the stationary disks intheir non-rotative position. For pressing the disks yieldingly togethersprings s s are provided which are conveniently made as 'helical springsapplied on the respective bolts p and tightened adjustably thereon bymeans of nuts g q. j

The rotary disks 7c have an essentially splined engagement with theshaft of one of the feedrollers this is best accomplished by forming theend portion of the shaft with grooves 1, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, andmaking the disks 7c with a central opening having inward projectionstwhich.' make a loose 01 free lit with the grooves r, thus forming amultiple key-way or splined connection whereby the torque is uniformlydistributed. The rotary disks are preferably circular, and turn withinthe stationary pins p p.

' The entire feed mechanism ,carried bythe frame F is adjustable up ordown withI respect to the framing of thepress or other machine in orderto bring the fed strip of metalv tened in such position by tighteningthe nuts von the bolts b b. adjustment of these frames the base Ais-,provided with adjusting yscrews e e passing through lugs cast on thebase and engaging the under side of the respective frames F.v 'The frameF is conveniently constructed with Y `an outer section or cap F (Fig. 1)by re moving which the bearing blocks L h are rendered accessible andthey feed rolls may be 'taken out, these caps are held by any convenientfastening, such ,asbolts b at the bottom and tap screws or bolts f atthe top. At the left in Fig. 1 the frame F is modified toserve alsoasthe slideway for a slide L, which in the press, shown carries a shearblade vfor chopping up the scrap left after thepunchingshaye-been-cut'from it.

The intermittent feed movements are imparted to the feed rollers G G inany suitable Way, as for example by any known ratchet mechanism. vThemechanism for this purpose adopted in 'the particular machineillustrated is bestshown 'in Figs. 6, 7 and 8. The

shaft K is driven in unison with the main shaft C, as for example byintermeshing gears of like pitch u 'v w, and the shaft K carries anadjustable-throw cranka; which drives av rack bar g/ having slidingmovement (in a rockerguide z oscillating freely on a shaft 10. The rackbar jz/ has a rack of gear teeth 11 meshing with external gear teeth ona drum 12 which oscillates freely around the To facilitate thevertical'` `shaft 10. Thus the reciprocation imparted to notches, lwhichrollers are'. pressed out byv spring plungers 15to force them intowedging frictional engagement between the tangential faces of thenotches and the inner facev of the drum, so that on the forward strokeof the drum they lock and on the rearward stroke they are released androll back idly againsttlie radial faces of the notches.

The lshaft 10, which is thus driven intermitin Fig. 7.

The described feed mechanism operates by the simultaneous rotation ofthetwo pairs of feed rollers so as to feed the sheet or strip of metalequally and d in the same direction at oppositesides of the machine. Thefeeding 'justing nuts Q Q', remains constant notwith! Astanding theslight wear whichl incourse 0f. time occurs upon the surfaces -of therespec" movements are preferably performed on the return movement 'ofthe punch slide, the downward movement while the punch is entering themetal being utilized for the return -ing effect without imposing anyunnecessary drag upon the machine. This adjustment, being onceaccpmplished by adjusting the stress ofthe springs s 8 bymeans of theadtive stationary androtary disks of the brake and their interveningfacing fabrics. In its application to such presses the disk brake thusprovided has a great advantage over the band brakes heretofore generallyused which are subject to such .wear that they 'soon get out ofadjustment,.and which are .irregular in their action, being liableto beadjusted too tightly and quickly .wearing or vpolishtently, drivestheshafts g g of the rollers G` v G through miter gears 16'-17, as bestshown` ing their braking surfaces so that the rei In Aconnection withthis frictional ratchet type of feed motion the improved disk brakealready described has the advantage of imiparting to the rolls G G,shaft and ratchet disk'l such resistance to backward motion Vas" toinsure the positive unlocking o'f the ratchet rollers at the beginningof the backward rotation of the drum 12. Y Fig. 1 shows '.tion to thepresent invention.

slide D has tappe't screws 20 which on the dotted lines, and a stop arm24. T he lifting an accessory of a roller feed of the characterdescribed which has, no necessary rela?` The punch down stroke oftheslide strike tappet levers 21 projecting fromrock shafts 22, each ofwhich carries a lifting arm 23, rshown in my name.

arms take under the boxes of the upperl feed rolls G andlift these toseparate the rolls and 'free the scrap Ashortly before the punch (orpunches) enters the metal so as to enable the sheet metal to be broughtto register punching or, other gauge openings in the strip of metalwhereby to gauge the location of the punches more accurately than can beaccomplished by an intermittent vfeed alone.

-The extent ofseparation of the rolls is de termined. by the abutment ofthe stop arm 24 against an eccentric v25 which is adj ustable topositions of varying throwZ by a rocker arm j 2.6. This mechanism (20Ito 26) may be vas omitted in case the use of accurate gauging pins is-not required.

YThe construction illustrated is the preferable one, but may be variedWithin the skill of mechanics' or' designers according to the desiredlocation for the feed mechanism and i i the shaft of'a feed-rolhsuch brother local requirements.

-WhatIclaim is: 1. A high speed .feed mechanism for a' punching press orsimilar machine, compris-l :ing feedrolls, means for intermittentlyrotating them. and a disk `brake applied upon ake comprising alternatingstationary and rotatable disks and adjustable yielding means forpressing them together, the.rotatable disks havingzanonrotative`connection with. the shaft of said roll.v

' 2. A feed mechanism according to claim 1,

having a frame carrying the bearings for the v -roll shafts and a faceplate fastened theretoV for carrying thee friction brake, and astationary mounting fastened thereto for the stationary' disks of thebrake.

- 3, A feed mechanism accordinto claim 1, the stationary disks of thebrake having re- -1 -cesses,` fixed studs. engaging-saidrecesses, a baseplate for the brake to which said studs are attached, and ad]ust ingsprings and nuts appliedto said studs.

4. A feed mechanism according to claim 1, the rotative. disks of thebrake having a mulv tiple splined engagement with the roll shaft,

and the stationary disks of the brake engaged '6. A feed 'mechanismaccording to claim 1, 'with an adjustable frame carrying such feedmechanism mounted on the frame of such machine, and movable bodily to.vary the position' of the feedl rolls.

In wit-ness whereof, I have. hereunto signed ROBERT w. sTRoUT.

by' the use yof pins engaging the previous v

